The present invention relates to material processing in general, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transforming the physical structure of material.
Various spinning machines have been designed for spinning molten materials, particularly sugar. The materials may be introduced into the spinning machine in molten form or, alternatively, introduced in solid form and melted or subjected to flash flow conditions just prior to being spun out from a spinning assembly of the machine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,821 discloses a spinning machine which is particularly designed for spinning cotton candy. The machine includes a spinner head having a slotted, cylindrical wall and heating elements adjacent to the wall. Sugar in solid form is introduced into the spinner head and propelled against the heating elements where it is melted (i.e., undergoes flash flow transition) and caused to travel through the heating element. The molten sugar is spun out through the slots where it solidifies into the floss-like material known as cotton candy.
The art relating to spinning machines is generally directed to making cotton candy. This machinery performs satisfactorily for converting granular sugar into a floss-like material; however, these machines are not entirely satisfactory for spinning and heating other material which may have properties quite dissimilar to sugar, or which tend to be adversely affected by heat. Additionally, the prior art spinning machines are not adaptable to modify the structure of the material undergoing flash flow.
In commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,326 to Fuisz, a method of producing substances having pharmacological properties is disclosed. The Fuisz '326 patent discloses combining a carrier, such as sugar, with a medicament and spinning the combination into a readily water-soluble floss or fiber. In commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,532 to Fuisz, oleaginous substances, such as vegetable oil, baby oil, margarine, lanolin, cocoa butter and the like, are mixed with a carrier, such as sugar, and melt-spun in a cotton candy spinning machine or the equivalent. As so modified, the products disperse in water forming a colloidal or pseudocolloidal dispersion.
Other disclosures which relate to spinning substances are found in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,085 to Fuisz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,421 to Fuisz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,632 to Fuisz, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,856 to Fuisz. The products described in the above-mentioned patents and applications are all produced by processing in a cotton candy machine. Illustrative of a cotton candy machine is the Econo Floss Model 3017 manufactured by Gold Medal Products Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio. The process described in the above-identified disclosures involve the use of sugar(s) as a feedstock material which is spun to produce a material such as a floss, fiber, etc.
Still another machine for spinning substances is disclosed in commonly-owned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/954,257 now abandoned to Fuisz. The application discloses a spinner head including a heating element which defines narrow, elongate openings providing a substantially non-tortuous path through which feedstock material subjected to flash flow is projected.
The use of non-saccharide polymers as biodegradable carriers for various active agents has also been proposed in commonly-owned copending U.S. patent applications to Fuisz, Ser. Nos. 07/893,238 and 07/702,068, now abandoned. The applications disclose biodegradable carriers which are spun with the active agents to produce a solid capable of releasing the active agent over time within the body of a patient.
Machinery currently available has shortcomings which reduce its versatility. If conductive materials are introduced into a spinning machine, an electrical short could occur between heating elements or a heating element and other metal parts of the machine such as the metal band which surrounds many conventional heating elements. Another drawback of conventional spinning machinery is the inability to affect morphology of the resulting product. Conventional machinery also does not offer the user a choice in the size of the openings through which molten materials are caused to pass through prior to being spun out from the spinner head. A need clearly exists for spinning machinery which provides the user with the ability 1) to process many different types of materials without adversely affecting the properties thereof, 2) to produce materials of varied morphology, and 3) to offer a range of dimensions for the openings through which materials are ejected from the spinner head.
It is an object of the invention to provide a new spinning apparatus for processing solid materials by subjecting them to flash flow.
It is another object of the invention to provide a spinning machine capable of handling a wide variety of materials.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a range of dimensions for the openings through which material is processed.